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Lately I noticed that whenever I'm reading an article and I want to search something I read there, as I'm typing the keyword, Chrome autofills it. For example, I was reading a reddit post and someone mentioned the game Dungeons and Dragons. I opened a new tab, and as I was typing Dunge, Chrome autocompleted the full game name. I never searched that before.

UPDATE:

Okay that was a dumb question. But at least they are using clipboard contents. Today I tried to extract a zip file but an error occurred and then was typing in Chrome address bar "an error" Chrome autofilled it with the exact error statement and some other related suggestions. I tried to google using another browser, but there, I got completely unrelated suggestions. I'm not being a security nut but I just found out this today.

Neerkoli
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    Dungeons and Dragons is the top result for google auto-completion of "Dunge" for me too and I have never searched that term before... I would say it is a coincidence, since it seems that's the result google returns regardless. – Numeron Nov 10 '16 at 06:07
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    [See this article](https://privacy.google.com/your-data.html?modal_active=your-data-proof-overlay&article_id=c1-p-search-autocomplete-2) – John Wu Nov 10 '16 at 06:39
  • @Numeron Hmm. But I have noticed this several times. May be they were all popular search terms. :/ – Neerkoli Nov 10 '16 at 06:53
  • This is very easy to test: launch another browser, go to the Google homepage, type keywords and see how Google auto-completes. I think you are simply seeing Google's prediction algorithms. I launched a fresh Safari browser and "dunge" also autocompletes to D&D. – schroeder Nov 10 '16 at 06:57

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No, not chrome itself. That would be illegal perceived as a huge breach of trust. But what they do is use analytics like tracking pixels to see what sites you visit. This is metadata everyone shares. Where the problem lies, is that the page you visit is usually public enough for google to know the content. So they can match your visit with what they know about the page, in effect reading the page you're visiting. The D&D example you mention is probably coincidence, but the general tought is correct, they do that a lot.

J.A.K.
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    Can you give a source why that would be *illegal*? – Arminius Nov 10 '16 at 12:59
  • @Arminius Atleast their **privacy policy** does not state that they can read the contents on your screen and may send it to google. – defalt Nov 10 '16 at 14:27
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    @Arminius this is codified redundantly by international, national and state laws. [No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, ....](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_Act_of_1974#Conditions_of_disclosure) [No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence....](http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/) – J.A.K. Nov 10 '16 at 15:21
  • @J.A.K. When you agree to someone's ToS, you are giving up your rights to privacy (or at least, you're specifically opting-out of it in that circumstance). Otherwise, TeamViewer and such would also be illegal. – forest Sep 13 '18 at 01:26
  • Is there a reasonable excpectation that TeamViewer will read your screen? I think so. That is not the case for a browser. But looking back at this answer from two years ago I'm not that sure it would break any laws. – J.A.K. Sep 13 '18 at 17:33
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    @J.A.K. In some European countries, reasonable expectation is important (more specifically, "surprising" results are considered), but in countries like the US and Canada, simply accepting the terms of service means you are agreeing to anything in it, including things that you may not expect, like reading your screen. It may be illegal in some countries, or at least a contractual violation. – forest Sep 14 '18 at 01:40
  • @J.A.K. Password managers for web browsers store stuff you type. Web browsers (and obviously websites) are certainly capable of doing these sorts of things, whether or not any one in particular chooses to. If you mean taking screenshots, though, that seems overkill to provide search suggestions. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 15 '18 at 06:06
  • Are we talking about the browser just storing it for future use (on your computer), or the browser sending the data to Google? – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 15 '18 at 06:11
  • The way the question is worded suggests sending home information about the content of the page, be that text, links to images or taking screenshots (that last one would indeed be needlessly inefficient). And the browser is certainly capable of doing that, keylogging all your passwords and changing the amounts you send to your banking website. But it would be noteworthy if it did that. – J.A.K. Sep 16 '18 at 13:44